Recovery
by TheWeatherOutside
Summary: Spoilers for 3.13. A snippet from Gordon's recovery after the events of SOS part 2. (Day 30 of Whumptober 2019 - Recovery)


Gordon's eyes flew open as he was abruptly awoken from another nightmare. Whatever it had been about quickly faded from his mind but the lingering fear left him feeling shaky and sweaty.

It was still fairly dark as it was early in the morning and the sun was only just rising. Gordon sat up, not thinking he could get back to sleep any time soon, and rubbed his eyes. The movement sent a small spike of pain through his still healing wrist. He looked down at it, the cast and sling replaced by a small brace, and decided to take some painkillers.

He threw his blankets off himself and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He leant down to adjust the straps of his walking boot and his knee brace. He grabbed the small container of pills from his bedside table and stood up before he made his way down to the kitchen for some water.

The house was quiet as Gordon made his way through it. Apparently no one else wanted to be up at the crack of dawn.

Once Gordon got to the kitchen he grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it up with water. He took a couple of the pills out of the pot and swallowed them along with the water. He threw the remaining pills into the pocket of his shorts and made his way over to the backdoor.

He didn't open the door, but he looked out the big glass window where the pool laid beyond. He so badly wanted to be able to get back into it, even just to dip his toes in if he wasn't able to swim, but he still had to wait a little longer before he was deemed fit enough to head back to the water.

Usually at this time in the morning Gordon was just getting up to swim his daily laps across the pool, but instead he stood watching it out the window.

He stood there for a few more minutes, watching the sunrise and drinking the rest of his water, but then his moment of silence was broken by the sound of the klaxon blasting throughout the house.

Even though Gordon knew he wouldn't be involved in whatever the mission was, he still wanted to find out what it was, and so he put his glass in the sink and made his way up the stairs.

* * *

The rescue that came in was pretty straight forward, so only Virgil and Alan went on it. So far, Gordon had been sat in the living room, listening in to the conversations that were happening between Virgil, Alan and John. Things were going smoothly and Gordon began to get bored, so he decided to make his way down to the hanger.

Gordon hadn't been down to the hanger much since his accident because his brothers would usually tell him that he still wasn't well enough to operate the heavy machinery that sat around the place, to which Gordon would argue that he could at least sit and watch everyone else.

He sometimes got tired of just watching and would just end up upset as he was reminded of how helpless he was right now, so a lot of the time he avoided the hanger all together. But he did like to come down and see his Bird every now and then, as well as see how the rebuild of the Zero-X was coming along.

Scott and Brains were the only ones in the hanger. Gordon found them both hunched over a workbench with a blueprint stretched out in front of them and they were mumbling about something or other. When they heard Gordon approaching they both turned to give him a small wave and then they were back to the blueprint.

Gordon shuffled over to them and pulled out a stool to sit on. He also leant over to look at the blueprint, but no matter how long he stared at it he didn't understand what it was supposed to be of. It also didn't help that from where he was sitting he was looking at it upside down.

"How's it coming along?" Gordon asked when there was a break in their conversation.

"We're pretty sure that we've figured out how to build this part of the engine, but we're not really going to know if it works until we've got all the parts and put them together." Scott stood up straight from where he was leaning against the workbench and gestured to the blueprint in front of them.

"And there's still a few more parts that we haven't worked out yet," Brains added. He turned away to rummage around in a drawer, probably looking for some parts to start the next step of their build.

"How's the rescue going?"

"Pretty well," Gordon answered. Usually Scott listened in to the rescues whilst they were happening, but he had been too occupied with Brains right now. "They've found all the trapped miners and had almost gotten them all out before I came down here. They'll probably be leaving soon."

Scott nodded, seeming pleased that there was another successful mission under their belts. Brains came back a moment later with a collection of different mechanical parts and dumped them all on the bench.

Gordon wasn't quite sure what a lot of it was, but Scott seemed to as he started to fiddle with and analyse some of the parts. Maybe it was a good thing that Gordon couldn't help right now.

Scott and Brains got back into talking about the next part of their build and started to assemble some of the parts in front of them. Gordon just watched and listened but didn't join in on the discussion, until Scott suddenly directed the conversation onto Gordon.

"Oh yeah, Gordon, don't forget to do your physical therapy today."

Gordon groaned. "Do I have to? Can't I wait until tomorrow?"

Scott smiled sympathetically but there was also a hint of amusement on his face. "You say that every day, but you always end up doing it anyway."

"Maybe today is the day you'll let me off?"

"Just think of it like this: the sooner you're better, the more likely you'll be ready for this." Scott gestured to the blueprints in front of him.

That was just the reason as to why Gordon kept pushing himself to do better, to _be_ better. He wanted to be there when they set off to find their dad and not have any remaining injuries or setbacks stand in his way, and it seemed that Scott knew that was just how he felt.

"Fine," he gave in. "But only because you won't survive without me there."

After a bit more time, Gordon stood up from his stool to leave the other two to it and made his way back upstairs, giving Scott and Brains a small wave as he left.

* * *

Gordon fell face down onto his bed. It was a couple of hours later. Virgil and Alan had gotten back a while ago and Gordon had just finished up with his physical therapy exercises. He was now exhausted as he curled up on top of the sheets and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

He woke up a little while later underneath something warm. He peeled his eyes open to find that someone had draped a blanket over him, and he smiled as he tried to guess who it was.

It was light when Gordon had fallen asleep, but now it was quick dark as the sun was setting. Gordon leant over to switch on the lamp on his bedside table and sat up to stretch.

Through the crack of Gordon's barely open door, he could see that the light in the hallway was on, but it was quiet. Gordon made his way out of his room and peeked out into the hall. It appeared that there was no one around, so Gordon headed down the stairs.

It wasn't until he reached the kitchen when he saw anyone. His Grandma was pottering around at the stove, but she turned around when she heard Gordon approaching.

"Hey, Grandma. Where is everyone?" Gordon asked as he sat down at the breakfast bar.

"They're all out on a rescue." She turned back to the stove to turn it off and she started to take some bowls out of the cupboard.

Gordon frowned. "How did I not hear it?" The klaxon usually rang throughout the whole house when there was a rescue. Gordon didn't think he was in that deep of a sleep that he didn't hear it at all.

"Your brothers were all in the living room when it came in. There was no need to alert everyone when everyone that was needed was right there."

Gordon slumped a little at that. He had always found it hard to come to terms with how he couldn't help out on a rescue whenever he was injured. However, this time was different. He hadn't ever been out of action for this long, and each time he couldn't do something that he was normally able to do, he couldn't help but feel a little more helpless. With all his brothers out on a rescue without him, it was really sinking in how useless he was.

"Everyone that was needed…" he mumbled, mostly to himself. He didn't expect his Grandma to hear him, but she had. She stopped in her task of pouring whatever she had been cooking into the bowls and came over to stand on the opposite side of the bar.

"Now, now, Mister. This isn't time for a pity party. You know that you're needed."

"I just…feel so useless." Gordon looked down at the bar in front of him. He didn't see his Grandma walk around it until she was right next to him and pulled him into a sidelong hug.

"So you're not at your best right now. No one is all the time. If you were always at your best then you have no room to get better. Just give it time, and before you know it you'll be back out there, saving the day right next to your brothers." She hooked a finger under Gordon's chin to tilt his head up and with her other hand she wiped away a tear that threatened to escape down Gordon's cheek. Gordon hadn't even realised he'd been crying. "You boys have all felt this way at some point, and you always pick yourself up and get back out there. It's what we Tracys do, we don't let something like this stand in our way."

She smiled down and Gordon, and Gordon gave her a small smile back, feeling slightly better.

"Now, what do you say to some food?" She gestured over to the pot of food that she was in the process of putting into a couple of bowls.

Gordon pulled a face at the prospect of eating some of his Grandma's food. When she noticed she laughed and ruffled his hair before returning to the food.

"Relax, MAX helped me make most of it. Although, with that cheek I should make you be the taste tester the next time I'm looking for one."

Gordon's eyes widened. "No, no this is enough!"

His Grandma laughed again as she placed a bowl in front of him. She went to turn away as Gordon was about to tuck in, but then Gordon stopped her.

"Thank you, Grandma."

He meant it for the food, but also for more than that, and she seemed to know that as she gave him a warm smile. Gordon returned it and turned back to his food.

His Grandma was right. He had come a long way and there was still a ways to go, but he wouldn't let it stop him. He would get better and when it was time he would join his brothers in looking for their dad. He may not be one hundred percent today, or tomorrow, but one day he will. And when that day comes, Jeff will be so proud of how far he's come, and that was all he needed right now.


End file.
